APPLE IPAD WILL HIT THE UK IN MARCH

FROM THE BOOKSELLER:

Apple's iPad is to be made available in the UK from "late March", according to the company's own website. Pricing has not been revealed, but a note recently added to its UK iPad pages indicated that the Wi-Fi model would be "shipping in late March".

At the launch event last week Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, said the company was just beginning to work on deals with Wi-Fi and 3G operators internationally, indicating that he didn't expect the deals to be in place until June. But its website now says March, with the 3G model to follow from April. A customer services representative confirmed the change to The Bookseller, but said that UK pricing had not yet been announced, and that the device could not be pre-ordered.

It is unlikely that Apple's iBook Store will follow so swiftly. A note on Apple's US website has previously indicated that its books store will only be available for US users. It is believed that UK publishers have yet to have discussions with Apple over a UK iBooks Store. In the US, five of the country's biggest pubishers, all with UK subsidiaries have signed up to supply digital books on a so-called 'agency model' at launch.